Oral History - all
Greg Winther’s grandfather opened the Winther Music Company in downtown Boise, Idaho, just before World War II. The near-by streets would soon be covered with competitors, a fact Greg, who took over as president of the store in the 1970s, found to be healthy for business. Greg branched out into... more
Birth Date: August 8, 1917
Deceased Date: October 8, 2003
Harold Winkler was raised in the music publishing industry. His father, Max Winkler, worked his way up from stock boy at Carl Fischer to be president of famed Belwin Music Publishing Company in New York. As a strong supporter of the emerging school music market following World War II, Harold... more
Birth Date: March 10, 1921
Deceased Date: February 13, 2014
Don Wilson always enjoyed being around music, as a player, teacher, retailer, and as an award-winning baton twirler. He opened his music store in 1956 with the dream of running his business, raising his family, and staying close to the music he loved. In 2006, he reflected that his dreams did come... more
Greg Way has had a long and successful career in the Canadian music retail industry and has been a strong advocate for music and music making throughout his career. As an owner of St. John’s Music, Greg developed many programs for his customers and played a key role in the company’s store... more
Birth Date: April 9, 1920
Deceased Date: February 15, 2010
Art Van Damme became one of the biggest stars of the 1950s with a 15-minute radio and TV program, a noted role in the NBC orchestra, and many miscellaneous recordings, all-centering on his talents as an accordionist. The accordion seemed an unlikely instrument for producing a star, however during... more
Milton Thomas has had a long and well-respected career in the music products industry. Milt served as National Sales Manager/Director of Marketing for the Lowrey Organ Company before becoming Vice President of marketing for the keyboard musical instrument division of CBS Musical Instruments. He... more
Robert Street grew up in the piano business. In 1914, Robert’s grandfather, Claude P. Street, opened his first music store in Nashville, Tennessee. Claude was certain that a successful business could be built by offering the finest keyboard instruments and professional service, a philosophy the... more
Dan Strait moved his family to Austin, TX from Houston to open a Baldwin piano franchise back in 1963. The company was called Strait Piano and Organ and Dan’s motto was “Where customers become friends”. Slowly, Dan saw the opportunity to expand to a full-line music store, and in 1967 Strait Piano... more
Deceased Date: February 24, 2019
Jim Slutz served as the Professor of Music Business at Indiana State University before his retirement in 2004. Former NAMM President Mr. F.D. "Bud" Streep from Orlando was the first person to make Jim aware of the need for college trained music business graduates. Mr. Streep and Jim worked together... more
Denny Senseney is a passionate music retailer who began his career as a band director. When he formed Senseney Music in 1984, he sought to provide the service to band directors that he felt was missing when he was an educator. Over the years Denny has played a vital role within the industry serving... more
Birth Date: May 4, 1925
Deceased Date: August 12, 2010
Webb Phillips formed the Allied Piano Company outside of Philadelphia with the goal of filling a need. As a piano technician it was hard to find reliable products that you can trust, so Webb sought to gather the best the industry had to offer and supply the products to his fellow tuners. Over the... more
John Page is the founder of a guitar company in Sunny Valley, Oregon, which produces hand made instruments. John Page Guitars, formed in 2006 by John and his wife Dana, is just one of the many fascinating capers in his long and successful career as a luthier. His association with Fender Musical... more
Birth Date: January 5, 1934
Deceased Date: July 31, 2015
Walt Johnston was best known throughout the industry for his role in introducing the Pearl Drum Company to the United States. After a gig selling band instruments, Walt was hired by CMI to bring the Pearl kits to the American market. His success was based on several elements, not the least of which... more
Ron Marquez formed Aquarian Accessories with jazz drummer Roy Burns back in 1980. Together they developed several successful products including a series of popular drumheads. Ron established his own powder coating company in 1974, which led to his introduction to Roy who was looking for some... more
John Stowell has been a strong supporter of the music industry as a jazz guitarist and has performed at the NAMM show over the years as well as at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad. Fans of the museum may recall the special program during the 2002 NAMM Show in which John was... more
Karl Pucholt and Lars Seifert have helped bring C. A. Seydel Sohne back to the forefront of the industry once again. The historic harmonica manufacturer, located in Klingenthal, Germany, had fallen on hard times before its re-birth in 2004. Founded in 1847, the company produced many innovative... more
Ago (Alan) Koerv joined the Wurlitzer Company in 1960 as Chief Financial Officer after working as a consultant for the instrument maker’s annual reports. Located in the DeKalb headquarters, he oversaw the factory expansion project in the 1970s and took part in the selling of the company’s organ... more
Laurence Juber, like so many kids in the 1960s, began playing guitar soon after hearing the Beatles for the first time. He couldn’t dream that one day his talents as a guitarist would allow him to play along side Paul McCartney as a member of Wings, the band Paul formed a year after the Beatles... more
Birth Date: April 11, 1903
Deceased Date: May 12, 2006
Leita Jolly was celebrating her 100th birthday the week she was interviewed in 2003. On the occasion, she played the piano for her friends with her ragtime flare. In 1917, while World War I was ending, Leita was hired as a song plugger. Her main job was to play the latest songs in the music store... more
Birth Date: November 3, 1930
Deceased Date: August 25, 2022
Dr. Mable John served many people in a variety of ways during her long life. She was a singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, author, educator, leader, minister, mentor, music advocate and a friend. Her career as a backup singer and soloist broke ground at Stax Records and later with Ray Charles.... more